Month: December 2016

Hi All – It’s been a while, but I’m back. We’re coming upon the New Year and I’m looking forward to it. I have a few reasons to celebrate as my mom is getting healthier and I have great family and friends. I’m blessed. I thought this would be an ideal time to review some sparkling wines. Note that these are not champagnes as they are not from grapes in the Champagne region of France. That is a distinction here. I tried three different sparkling wines in order to compare tastes. The first was Martini and Rossi Asti Spumante. This is a sweet sparkling wine made from Italian Moscato grapes. It is along the lines of a Moscato’s sweetness with some hint of pear. It wasn’t my cup of tea, but for those who do like a sweeter sparkling wine, you’d enjoy it. You can find it in many grocery stores for around $12.00 per bottle. The second was Korbel Brut California Champagne (they named champagne, I didn’t). Brut is, by its name, a dry sparkling wine. This was very dry – even more than I’d thought. The description states it has flavors of light citrus and baked apple, but I didn’t taste that at all. In fact, I didn’t taste much of anything even after pairing with raspberries and cheese. This might be a good sparkling wine for use in Mimosas or, even better, Bellini’s, because it was so dry. However, it wasn’t my cup of tea either. I’m beginning to sound like Goldilocks here. You can find it in most grocery stores for around $13.00 per bottle. The third, and final, sparkling wine was Mumm Napa Brut Prestige. This was just right…for me. It is a Brut, but was not nearly as dry as Korbel. It had just a slight sweetness to it and flavors of apple, melon and maybe even pear. I did enjoy this one. You can find it in most grocery stores for $20.00 or so. For those of you expecting a review of Cristal or Dom Perignon, you’ll have to see what Kim Kardashian puts out on Twitter for a review. Her bank account, along with some of her other assets, is much larger than mine. On that note, have a great, safe New Year’s. Wishing you all a great 2017!

Hi All. I hope you have kept warm this week! I tend to drink more red wine in colder weather. I decided to try a 2014 Argyle Pinot Noir. It is from the Willamette Valley area in Oregon where they are known to grow some great Pinot Noir. It is a light, red wine in color and in taste. It doesn’t have that peppery Pinot taste like others do. It isn’t bold, but rather smooth, perhaps silky, as it advertises. It has black cherry tones to it. The description says it builds intensity on the back end, but I didn’t get that. Argyle is the most appropriate name for it. It reminds me of a conservative pair of argyle socks. The socks complement the outfit well, but you don’t remember them in particular. This wine would be a good red if you are new to reds. It isn’t a sharp or bold red, but a nice introduction red. Enjoy it with some lighter cheeses, nuts and meats. You can find it at Total Wines and some grocery stores for around $20 per bottle. Whatever you do this weekend, stay warm and enjoy it!

 

Hi All. I hope it has been a good week for you. I spent the earlier part of the week eating leftovers, feeling guilty, and then eating more leftovers to make myself feel better. I figured I’d go with a lighter wine this week, so picked a mild white wine. This wine doesn’t have fewer calories or sugars, but it looks lighter so I feel better about the decision. I tried a 2015 Martin Ray Russian River Valley Chardonnay. It is a lighter Chardonnay and is not really oaky. It has light melon, kiwi and peach tones to it. It has a slight acidity too it as well. That acidity translates to me as a slight effervescence. It is almost like a sparkling wine, but very faint. That’s just me. Note that I’ve overdosed on Thanksgiving leftovers, so not sure I’m qualified to blog about wine this week. I should have made this a blog about pie as I’m an expert on that now. Nonetheless, this 2015 Martin Ray is a good Chardonnay if you don’t like a heavy Chardonnay. It is refreshing. You can find it at Total Wines for around $10 per bottle. Have a great weekend!